Second acquisition in 12 months as Kingsbridge accelerates its growth strategy
Dinghy is widely recognised as having launched the first ever on-demand Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance cover, aimed at freelance professionals and the “gig” economy. Its leading-edge technology platform enables customers to flex their insurance coverage up and down with a simple swipe to reflect their needs - for example when they are between projects or on holiday, enabling them to save money but remain fully covered even when they are not working.
Dinghy’s offering is targeted at “gig” workers and freelancers working in the media and creative industries - the largest and most dynamic segment of the UK’s growing army of over 2 million freelancers and consultants. As well as PI cover, Dinghy also offers equipment cover, public liability, legal expenses and cyber liability - all delivered and managed through an intuitive and simple mobile-first website that delivers a step-change improvement in how these insurance products are bought and serviced.
The acquisition of Dinghy follows Kingsbridge’s acquisition last year of Larsen Howie, a specialist online provider of insurance and IR35 and tax related products and services. These have become increasingly important to contractors, freelancers and consultants as the regulatory and tax regime has become more onerous.
Through its Kingsbridge Contractor Insurance division working alongside its network of partners, Kingsbridge is already the leading provider of insurance packages to the UK contractor industry, servicing the needs of almost 50,000 customers. The acquisition of Dinghy and Larsen Howie, further accelerates Kingsbridge’s strategy of broadening its distribution, products, services and geographic reach to take advantage of the long-term shift in the workforce patterns of most developed economies around the world towards more flexible and part-time working.
Commenting on the acquisition, James Twining, Kingsbridge Group Chief Executive said, “the acquisition of Dinghy further broadens our ability to reach into an even wider segment of the important creative and ‘gig’ markets where freelancers demand a different approach to insurance and an improved user experience. We are delighted to welcome the Dinghy team into the Kingsbridge family and are very excited to deliver the next phase of growth that they and the Dinghy platform, will deliver for us both in the UK and internationally.”
Ben Wilks, co-founder of Dinghy, said: “We are delighted to have joined forces with Kingsbridge, who are known as one of the largest and most successful players in the contractor insurance market. The combination of Dinghy’s unique flexible product and technology platform and Kingsbridge’s marketing and commercial strength, will enable us to improve our offering to our existing customers and significantly accelerate our growth plans.”